NY Times: Transgender Kids’ Lit ‘Part of Fabric of Who We Are’

Bet you didn’t know there was a transgender “void” in the children’s
literature market. Well there was, but we can relax. According to an
article in The New York Times, transgender
themes have now joined the line up of “difficult issues like suicide, drug
abuse, rape and sex trafficking” as topics in children’s and young adult books.

“Children’s literature is catching up to the broader culture,” The
Times’ Alexandra Atler wrote approvingly. She quoted Scholastic Press Vice President David Levithan, saying, “As
our culture is starting to acknowledge transgender people and acknowledge that
they are part of the fabric of who we are, literature is reflecting that.”

Of course, literature
and other media don’t merely reflect. They also shape and foster. By normalizing
deviant behaviors, media desensitizes consumers, inculcates specific values (or
lack thereof) and present children, who are especially impressionable, with
topics for which they are not yet ready.

The Times, however, sees no downside. In addition to Levithan, Atler
quoted authors of transgender books and said they cited “child psychologists
and L.G.B.T. advocacy groups” in believing that “very young children can
question their gender identity” and “that families should be open to discussing
the subject.” She quoted no parents, mental health professionals, educators or
anyone else who wasn’t enthusiastic about introducing transgender to
schoolchildren.

Well, that’s not strictly true. Atler did quote some random Amazon
reviews of the book I am Jazz. which deemed
it “inappropriate material for young readers.” Another review stated: “We
should not be indoctrinating young kids about ‘trans.’”

Could anything be more indicative of the state of journalism at The
Times or its contempt for the benighted flyover folk that Atler didn’t feel the
need to actually talk to any dissenters? Or that her editors saw arbitrarily
lifting anonymous Internet reviews as acceptable practice?